The present invention relates generally to smart bathroom products, and more particularly to an automatic flushing mechanism for a smart bathroom product such as an electronically actuated toilet.
Some toilets include a tank which serves as a reservoir of flush water for the toilet. A flush valve is typically located at the bottom of the tank. The flush valve can be displaced via a flush actuating mechanism (e.g., a chain attached to a user-operable handle) to allow the flush water to flow through an opening covered by the flush value and into the base of the toilet. Automatic toilets may replace the user-operable handle with a motor or other automatic flush actuating mechanism.
Some existing flush actuating mechanisms employ a turntable which is rotated in a circular motion. A traction chain generally connects the turntable to the flush valve. Due to the circular motion of the turntable, the traction chain may not move straight up and down during operation. For example, when the flush valve is in a closed position, the angle of the force applied by the traction chain may be oblique. The circular motion of the turntable may also cause the closing speed of the flush value to be slow. Such existing flush actuating mechanisms may be incapable of achieving a rapid closure of the flush value (similar to that achieved by manual operation), leading to the problem of water leakage as the flush valve cannot be closed tightly.